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Podcast EP 54: Meditating on God’s Word & Scripture Memory (Spiritual Discipline Series)

by Marci Ferrell
Bible Study Christian Living Podcast Scripture Memory Spiritual Discipleship Spiritual Disciplines Series Theology

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Today's podcast episode is going to address areas that are important to our growth as believers: Meditation on God's Word and Scripture Memory.  #meditation #scripturememory #spiritualdisciplines @mferrell

We all want to grow in our walk as Christians. We've talked about how often we read God’s Word close the book and forget what we’ve read. We can blame our memories or our intelligence or our age, but the reality is it has more to do with our method than our abilities. Today's podcast episode is going to address areas that are important to our growth as believers: Meditation on God's Word and Scripture Memory. 

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

~1 Corinthians 1:26—31 

God desires us all to grow in the grace and knowledge of His Word, so we are all capable and equipped as believers by the work of Spirit of God in us.

We talked in our last episode on bible reading that we need to read the Word and hear the Word preached but just doing those two things doesn't always guarantee we will remember or be able to apply what we read. So then we briefly touched on meditating on the Word because this is where growth starts to come about.

Donald Whitney described it as:

“While hearing and reading plant the seed of Scripture into the soil of our souls, other disciplines are the water and sun God uses to bring the growth and fruit of Christlikeness in our lives.”

When we talk about meditation, please don’t get the image of a yoga class or some other kind of New Age practice. What the world describes as meditation is not what Christian meditation is. Again we are not emptying our minds, but in Christian meditation, we are filling our mind with God and His truth. 

Donald Whitney gives us a good definition:

“Let’s define meditation as deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture, or upon life from a scriptural perspective, for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer.” 

Let’s define meditation as deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in ScriptureClick to Tweet

Scripture Memory:

We all know we need to hide God’s Word in our heart so we might not sin against him (Psalm 119:11) but do we ever get to actually doing this? We know there are many benefits to having the Word of God in our hearts: to speak truth to our hearts, battle against sin, speak truth to others, and witnessing to others. A reason I want to remind us of to think of first—is that it is the very Words of God are shaping our minds and hearts when they are in our memory. 

We are able to think God’s thoughts throughout the day—transforming our minds with the truths of God’s Word will help us in discerning the will of God. 

Memorization and Meditation seem to work together in the spiritual disciplines. The hope is that we are meditating on the verses we are memorizing so we understand the meaning and context of the verse so we can apply them properly. 

Show Notes:

“The Spiritual Disciplines are those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth. They are the habits of devotion and experiential Christianity that have been practiced by the people of God since biblical times…The Spiritual Disciplines are the God-given means we are to use in the Spirit-filled pursuit of Godliness.” ~ Donald Whitney

“The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation”  ~ Thomas Watson

The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditationClick to Tweet

“they usually thrive best who meditate most.”  ~ Thomas Brooks

“I seemed often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence, and such a refreshing food communicated, that I could not get along in reading; often dwelling long on one sentence to see the wonders contained in it, and yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders.”  ~ Jonathan Edwards

“A man may think on God every day and meditate on God no day.”  ~ William Bridge

“The mingling of meditation with memorization helps us obey the command of Colossians 3:2 – Set your minds on things above.”  ~ Dave Mathis

“The Word of God is the “sword of the Spirit,” but if there is no Bible physically accessible to you, then the weapon of the Word must be present in the armory of your mind in order for the Spirit to wield it. Imagine yourself in the midst of a decision and needing guidance, or struggling with a difficult temptation and needing victory. The Holy Spirit enters your mental arsenal and looks around for available weapons, but all He finds is a John 3:16, a Genesis 1:1 and a Great Commission. Those are great swords, but they’re not made for every battle. How do we go about filling our personal spiritual arsenal with a supply of swords for the Holy Spirit to use?”  ~ Donald Whitney

“I am very much aware that Scripture memorization has largely fallen by the wayside in our day…….But let me say as graciously but firmly as I can: We cannot effectively pursue holiness without the Word of God stored up in our minds where it can be used by the Holy Spirit to transform us……I know it requires work and is sometimes discouraging when we can’t recall accurately a verse we have worked hard to memorize. The truth is, however, all forms of discipline require work and are often discouraging. But the person who perseveres in any discipline, despite the hard work and discouraging times, reaps the reward the discipline is intended to produce.” ~ Jerry Bridges

“It is a help to knowledge; thereby your knowledge is raised. Thereby your memory is strengthened. Thereby your hearts are warmed. Thereby you will be freed from sinful thoughts. Thereby your hearts will be tuned to every duty. Thereby you will grow in grace. Thereby you will fill all the chinks and crevices of your lives, and know how to spend your spare time, and improve that for God. Thereby you will draw good out of evil. And thereby you will converse with God, have communion with God, and enjoy God. And I pray, is not here profit enough to sweeten the voyage of your thoughts in meditation.”  ~ Jerry Bridges

Scripture & Resources:

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Philippians 4:8

Joshua 1:8

Psalm 1

James 1:25

John 1:12

Psalm 119:18

Psalm 119:11

Colossians 3:2

1 Corinthians 2:16

Ephesians 6:17

Romans 10:17

Hebrews 4:12

Ephesians 4:29

Psalm 23

1 Corinthians 13

Romans 8:1

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Resources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney

Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines by Dave Mathis

An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture by Andrew Davis (only $0.99 on Kindle)

A Call to Scripture Memory by Susan Heck

The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges

Scripture Memory as a Way of Living – @Revive Our Hearts

17 Ways to Meditate on Scripture by Donald Whitney (PDF)

Journals: Just Give Me Jesus from @Well Watered Women & Abide Journal from @Daily Grace Co.

What Does it Mean to Meditate? @Ask Pastor John

Meditation the Honors God – @Grace to You

What is Christian Meditation? @Got Questions

Navigators Topical Memory System

Topical Memory System App for iPad and iPhone 

Bible Memory App – My Personal Favorite (they even have a kids version) – Here is the link to my 1 Peter Memory Group

The MacArthur Scripture Memory System 

Seeds Family Worship  

Gospel Verses from Habits of Grace: Mark 10:45, Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23, Romans 8:1, Romans 8:32, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 2 Corinthians 8:9, 1 Timothy 1:15, 1 John 4:10, Revelation 5:9. 

Gospel Passages from Habits of Grace: Isaiah 53:4-6, Romans 3:23-24, Romans 4:4-5, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Galatians 3:13-14, Ephesians 2:4-5, Philippians 2:6-8, Colossians 1:19-20, Colossians 2:13-14, Titus 3:4-7, Hebrews 2:14-17, 1 Peter 2:22-25

Ten Passages for Pastors to Memorize Cold – @Desiring God

15 Bible Verses for Every Christian to Memorize – @Unlocking the Bible

Scripture Notecard Memory Instructions 

Ten Reasons to Memorize Big Chunks of the Bible – @Desiring God

11 Steps to Memorizing an Entire Book of the Bible – @Gospel Coalition

The Gospel Condensed – My Favorite Sermon by my Favorite Preacher xo

Resource of the Week – Wretched Radio 

Listen & Download the Podcast:

Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Favorite App

Find All Podcast Episodes with Show Notes

All Podcasts in the Spiritual Disciplines Series

 

 

 

Related posts:

  1. Podcast EP 56: Prayer (Spiritual Disciplines Series)
  2. Podcast EP 55: How to Study the Bible (Spiritual Disciplines Series)
  3. Podcast EP 53: Daily Bible Reading (Spiritual Disciplines Series)
  4. Podcast EP 52: Introduction to the Spiritual Disciplines


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Comments

  1. Tina Rossi says

    at

    Hi Marci,
    I plan to use the Spiritual Disciplines series for our bible study/fellowship. We have one member who is deaf & was wondering if you have a pdf file of the study notes so that she can participate? We will be doing Episode 52 on next Thursday, April 11th. I appreciate your help concerning this matter.

    Sincerely,
    Tina Rossi

    • Marci Ferrell says

      at

      Tina I’m going to shoot you an email.

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Instagram post 2192246981949193900_40367759 Learning to pray doesn't offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart.⁣ ~ Paul Miller
Instagram post 2191562934210186186_40367759 😂😂😂
Instagram post 2190797549825329454_40367759 Christmas shopping can get a bit overwhelming and I wanted to help you (and myself) to make it a bit less complicated. I love to find gifts for family and friends that point to Jesus. ⁣
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This will not be your typical Christmas gift guide but one I hope will help you and your gift receivers keep their eyes focused on the eternal. My hope also is to simplify your shopping time with many items being purchased from smaller businesses right online.⁣
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The link to the post is in my bio @thankfulhomemaker
Instagram post 2190064452091749147_40367759 Advent is the season leading up to Christmas and it begins with the four Sundays before December 25th.⁣ ⁣
1 Peter 1:10-12 gives a picture of what it means to look back during Advent:⁣
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10 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 11 𝘪𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 12 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬.⁣
⁣
1 Peter1:12 stands out because it says these saints of the past were serving us. We are on the other side now of Christ’s birth – the waiting for his arrival is over but the reality is we are still waiting for His second coming. We are still waiting for redemption. Advent can be looked at as a season to look back and one to look forward—preparing for Jesus second coming.⁣
⁣
Come read more at the link in my bio @thankfulhomemaker and check out the list of resources to help you in your celebration of Advent
Instagram post 2188623928759424111_40367759 What we see as routine, the Lord sees as His hand in molding us more into Christlikeness.⁣
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#homemaker #homemakers #mundane ⁣
#christian #christianity #thankfulhomemaker #homemakingministries #bedeeplyrooted #womenintheword #wellwateredwomen #womenoftheword #christianblogger #christianwomen #christians #treasurechrist #joyinchrist #inchristalone #wordbeforeworld #faithblogger #deeplyrooted #faithblogger #hopewriter #butfirstjesus #graceupongrace
Instagram post 2188305464836375324_40367759 Posted @withrepost • @dustinwbenge Jesus is not a god.
Jesus does not become God.
Jesus does not aspire to be God.
Jesus is God. .
.
.
#reformed #reformedtheology #church #preach #preaching #pastor #christianliving #christian #salvation #evangelical #scripture #bible #theology #doctrine
Instagram post 2187954522889016403_40367759 “When I come into Heaven, I shall understand perfectly what the Lord hath done for me, and then shall I be able to praise him as I ought.”~ Anne Bradstreet
Instagram post 2187308907507351988_40367759 Warm up before dinner 😀#cheeseplate
Instagram post 2187173549372920577_40367759 Psalm 100:⁣
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!⁣
Serve the Lord with gladness!⁣
Come into his presence with singing!⁣
Know that the Lord, he is God!⁣
It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.⁣
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,and his courts with praise!⁣
Give thanks to him; bless his name!⁣
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.⁣
⁣
Happy Thanksgiving Friends xo
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